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Spiritual Oppression Ebook
Spiritual Oppression Ebook
1 Corinthians 10:19-22 (19) What am I saying then? That an idol is anything, or what
is offered to idols is anything? (20) No, but that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice,
they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not desire that you should have
fellowship with demons. (21) You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of
demons; you cannot partake of the Lord's table and of the table of demons. (22) Or do
we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?
Idols Are To Be Absolutely Rejected
Idols are often very expensive and superficially attractive objects and the temptation to
keep them just as decorations, heirlooms, or ornaments is often great BUT we are not
to covet the silver or gold on them according to Deut. 7:25. In the NT this is what Paul
the Apostle says:
1 Corinthians 10:13-14 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common
to man; but God is faithful, who will not permit you to be tempted beyond what you are
able, but with the temptation, He will also make the way out, so as for you to be able to
bear it. (14) Wherefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.
And the Apostle John says:
1 John 5:21 Little children, guard yourselves from idols. Amen.
Idolatry Brings Judgment Upon People
The Ten Commandments tells us that idol worship is punished until the third and fourth
generation (Exodus 20:4-5). In the New Testament idolatry is frequently mentioned in
the lists of serious sins that keep people out of the Kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9,
Galatians 5:20; 1 Peter 4:3, Revelation 2;14,20; 9:20; 21:18;22:15).
In fact in the early church faithful Christians were told not even to eat with another
Christian who tolerated or worshipped idols (1 Corinthians 5:11).
In Revelation we read of the severe judgment upon Jezebel was because of idolatry (Rev.
2:20) and the final plagues came upon those who clung to their idols:
Revelation 9:20-21 (20) The rest of the people who survived
these plagues did not repent of the works of their hands or stop
worshiping demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone,
and wood, which cannot see, hear, or walk. (21) They did not
repent of their murders, their deeds of witchcraft, their acts of
sexual immorality, or their thefts.
Revelation 21:8 But people who are cowardly, unfaithful, detestable, murderers,
sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars will find themselves in the lake that
burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death."
What Christians Must Do
Christians must destroy, preferably by burning with fire, all sacred objects of other
religions, Buddhas, charms, magic books, Kabbalah books, sacred religious pictures and
all objects that are venerated, including New Age objects, drug paraphernalia, death
metal comics and record covers, occult based computer games and video games, and
everything occultic, dark and evil including dream-catchers, idols, masks and pagan
statues. If you have any doubt about it, any doubt at all - get rid of it.
Often the Holy Spirit will convict you and make you uncomfortable until you do this.
Some people think that just putting them in the garage is enough but why hold onto
things that will only bring a curse on you and cause you and others to stumble in their
walk or in their faith!
Our rational Western minds often do not see much harm in such things, but Scripture is
absolutely clear that to play around with magic, the occult, witchcraft and idolatry is to
enter into the world of demons and to incur the wrath of God. The Word of God says
YOU must take this seriously and deal with it as soon as possible, not tomorrow, not later
BUT now.
All this is necessary to advance in your walk with Christ, in your relationship with God the
Father and the Holy Spirit. In sum, we are to be salt and light. Salt is for flavor and
healing. What does light have in common with darkness? Nothing! Light dispels the
darkness, it does not tolerate or co-habitate with darkness. To grow into strong in the
faith --- walk 100% in the faith of Our Lord, Jesus Christ!
When Israel was about to go into the promised land Moses gave these warnings against
being involved with idols, images or occult practices.
(Deuteronomy 7:23-26 NKJV) "But the LORD your God will deliver them over to you, and
will inflict defeat upon them until they are destroyed. {24} "And He will deliver their kings
into your hand, and you will destroy their name from under heaven; no one shall be able to
stand against you until you have destroyed them. {25} "You shall burn the carved images of
their gods with fire; you shall not covet the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it for
yourselves, lest you be snared by it; for it is an abomination to the LORD your God. {26}
"Nor shall you bring an abomination into your house, lest you be doomed to destruction like
it. You shall utterly detest it and utterly abhor it, for it is an accursed thing.
Notice the penalty for bringing an object of occult worship into one's house "lest you be
doomed to destruction like it... for it is an accursed thing". Idols carry the curse of God
on them as do Ouija boards, tarot cards, things used in Satanic rituals, crystal balls,
magic books, divination instruments etc. When these things are present in the home,
alcoholism, mental illness, chronic diseases and even suicide soon follow.
But you don't have this stuff in you house - you just "get your cards done", have your
palm read, read your horoscope etc...(Leviticus 20:6 NKJV) 'And the person who turns to
mediums and familiar spirits, to prostitute himself with them, I will set My face against
that person and cut him off from his people." Consulting mediums and spiritists was so
serious that it resulted in God's wrath falling in a particularly severe form - banishment
forever from Israel.
Here is a catalog of verses about the occult:
(Ezekiel 13:18 NKJV) "and say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Woe to the women who
sew magic charms on their sleeves and make veils for the heads of people of every
height to hunt souls! Will you hunt the souls of My people, and keep yourselves alive?
(Ezekiel 13:20 NKJV) 'Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, I am against your
magic charms by which you hunt souls there like birds. I will tear them from your arms,
and let the souls go, the souls you hunt like birds.
(Ezekiel 13:23 NKJV) "Therefore you shall no longer envision futility nor practice
divination; for I will deliver My people out of your hand, and you shall know that I am
the LORD."' "
(Malachi 3:5 NKJV) And I will come near you for judgment; I will be a swift witness
Against sorcerers, Against adulterers, Against perjurers, Against those who exploit wage
earners and widows and orphans, And against those who turn away an alien; Because
they do not fear Me," Says the LORD of hosts.
New Testament
(Acts 19:19 NKJV) Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books
together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and
it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver.
(Revelation 21:8 NKJV) "But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers,
sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which
burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."
(Revelation 22:15 NKJV) But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and
murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.
What Should I Do?
The early church used to have as part of the baptismal formula "I renounce all the works
of the Devil" and those becoming Christians were required to destroy any idols or charms
or magic books that they owned (see Acts 19:19 above for an example). Because the
sins of idolatry, witchcraft, and involvement in magic or the occult are "abominations"
that is very offensive to God - then they must be confessed and sometimes using a
prayer for spiritual cleansing can be a big help. Here is a procedure for dealing with any
occult involvement:
(see next page)
2. Burn everything that is associated with the occult -jade Buddhas, temple wind
chimes, tarot cards, magic books, demon masks, even the "dark" kind of heavy
metal music, things with pentagrams on it (the five pointed occult star), astrology
books, love magic , charms, books from cults such as the JW's or Mormons, when
in doubt destroy it. Many people are trapped by the value of these items as they
can be covered with gold or silver or be "old and rare books" etc. The Ephesian
Christians burnt 50,000 drachmas (about 5 million dollars worth) of magic books
when they became converted. The Bible tells us (Deut 7:25) that we are not to
covet the silver or the gold that is on them - its tempting but its dangerous.
3. Set yourself a program of bible reading and prayer and ask God to renew you
spiritually and be Lord of your life. (John 3:1-17)
4. Ask God to fill you with the Holy Spirit so you can know the true spiritual power
that is from God and serve Him.
1. The reality of Christ's mission in particular His incarnation. The reason Jesus
Christ was manifested in human form was so that He could tackle Satan on his own turf
and destroy all his works. Like a hand-grenade exploding in the Devil's face the
incarnation brought the awesome power of the Son of God into proximity with evil so that
it might completely destroy it.
2. The reality of Christ in us the hope of glory. He who is in us is He who came to
destroy the works of the Devil. Jesus overcame the world then, and now, He is in us, and
continues to overcome the world.
3. The reality of the indestructibility of our real eternal selves which are based
on Christ in us. A person who has been born again has a new self that is created on a
new order and a higher plane. It is eternal, imperishable and indestructible, it cannot be
defiled. It is sinless and cannot sin. It is born of God and partakes of the very principles
of the nature of God (but on a much different scale).
(1 John 3:9 NKJV) Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in
him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.
This new self battles with the flesh in a life long struggle for dominance (Galatians 5:1618) so Christians still do sin but this sin is not a part of them that will still be with them
in Heaven. There will be no need for Purgatory, the new self has been sinless from the
"new birth". This new self cannot be "touched" by the evil one. The person we will be for
the next ten million years cannot be affected by sin , defilement or temptation and it has
already passed out of the judgment of God (John 5:24, Romans 8:1,2). While Satan can
destroy your flesh (1 Corinthians 5:5) he cannot touch the real eternal you.
These three powerful realities mean that even though Satan and his demons are at times
quite formidable foes they ultimately cannot harm us. They are defeated rebels whose
rebellion will come to nothing in the end. Jesus Christ came to destroy ALL the works of
the Devil and through His church that task is being completed and will be finally climaxed
at the return of Christ. Let's look at how the Devil lost the weapons from his armory.
(Hebrews 2:14 NKJV) Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood,
He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who
had the power of death, that is, the devil,
The incarnation gave Jesus the flesh and blood He needed so that through death He
could defeat Satan's ability to wield the power of death, keeping the world in fear and
abject slavery.
(Colossians 2:13-15 NKJV) And you, being dead in your trespasses and the
uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you
all trespasses, {14} having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against
us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the
cross. {15} Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of
them, triumphing over them in it.
These verses in Colossians indicate that the weapon of accusation has been removed.
Satan has been disarmed by the forgiveness we have received. He no longer has any
basis for accusing us. The Charge sheets are all nailed to the Cross.
The Christian's power and authority over the demonic realm is not based on having more
"might" than the demonic realm (I do not know of any Christian with the spiritual might
anywhere near that of Satan) but on authority.
The distinction is important. Joash became king of Israel when he was 7 years old.
Though physically puny and intellectually hardly a match for bad queen Athaliah he had
more authority than her or any of his rivals. He was king.
Similarly even a "baby Christian" has more authority in the spiritual realm than the
biggest baddest demon on the block. As a small child is more important than the largest
fiercest lion - so God has deemed that even the least Christian outranks the mightiest
power and principality.
The authority comes because of their position in the heavenly hierarchy. In God's
household we are the "sons" and angels, even the mightiest of them are just servants of
God. And sons outrank servants.
(Hebrews 1:14 NKJV) Are they (i.e angels) not all ministering spirits sent forth to
minister for those who will inherit salvation?
(1 Corinthians 6:3 NKJV) Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much
more, things that pertain to this life?
We have undergone a spiritual transformation as a result of the gospel. In the Old
Testament we were " a little lower than the angels", we were like children who, in their
minority, have less status than say the butler and are expected to treat the household
servants with respect. But with the gospel we have come of age and are now full-fledged
sons of God:
(John 1:12 NKJV) But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become
children of God, to those who believe in His name:
(Galatians 3:24-26 NKJV) Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that
we might be justified by faith. {25} But after faith has come, we are no longer under a
tutor. {26} For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
This transformation means that a huge change in status has occurred so that inhabitants
of the Kingdom of God are truly awesome spiritual beings.
(Ephesians 2:6-7 NKJV) and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the
heavenly places in Christ Jesus, {7} that in the ages to come He might show the
exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
(Ephesians 1:20-21 NKJV) which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the
dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, {21} far above all
principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only
in this age but also in that which is to come.
(Matthew 11:11-13 NKJV) "Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women
there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom
of heaven is greater than he.
We have been raised up with Christ and seated at His right hand in the heavenly realms
far above all principalities and power and might and dominion so that Jesus could say of
us that the least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than the mightiest of the Old
Testament saints. This is "amazing grace" and is God displaying His kindness for all the
world to see.
you see; {24} "for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you
see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it."
Jesus commissions the twelve and then the seventy to have power of evil..In these
verses we discover three things:
1. The power we have over the demonic realm is a gracious gift from Jesus"I give
you.."to equip us for ministry (it is in the context of a ministry trip).
2. This power is both offensive. I give you the authority to trample on serpents and
scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. and defensive and nothing shall by any
means hurt you.
3. That our operating principle is not to be power consciousness but instead humble
gratefulness for the grace of God."Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are
subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven."
as "someone stronger" and overpower him, binding his activities (Matthew 12:29),
neutralizing his weapons (Luke 11:22) and taking back the things he claims ownership
of. (Luke 11:22).
So to use the name of Jesus in prayer is a declaration of authority. Even Jewish exorcists
found it had enormous authority until it was challenged (Acts 19:13-18). They were
operating on "bluff" they were not converted and had no right to use the authority of
Jesus name in exorcism.
The basis of praying in Jesus name is , first of all, being converted.
Jesus name can be used in two ways 1)In declarative mode "In the name of Jesus I
command..." e.g. when Peter healed the lame man at the Gate Beautiful(Acts 3:6 NKJV)
Then Peter said, "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the
name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.".
Secondly it may be used to request things from God eg, in the verses from John's gospel
above"And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified
in the Son.".
The difference between command mode and request mode is that we command lesser
beings but command greater ones. So when addressing a demon, a disease or a
mountain or a storm we operate in command mode as sons of God proudly bearing the
authority of Jesus name. When addressing the Father or Jesus we do not presume on the
authority we have been given but we come humbly as expectant children with every right
to ask and to receive but always in wonder and awe for we have a majestic God.
Go boldly into the battle armed with the name of Jesus Christ.
Bible-based apologetics has its place here on demolishing the "lofty arguments" and
replacing them with truth. Jesus' confrontations with the Pharisees and Sadducees and
His teaching on the Sermon On The Mount were real "stronghold busters" (You have
heard it said..but I say. to you..)
Thoughts control emotions and actions. If your doctrine tells you that you are no good
then you will feel worthless. If your doctrine demands perfection you will feel constantly
guilty. This will lead to actions based on your thoughts and feelings e.g a life of constant
striving. A stronghold can become so intense that the person loses touch with reality. To
see this in action we need only look at the severely demon-possessed with their
destroyed thought life, shattered emotions, lack of contact with reality and constant fear.
(Mark 5:1-20)
Satan controls us to the extent that he can control our thinking. Yet God has given us
weapons against this that are"mighty in God for the pulling down of strongholds"so there
is no problem with our weapons ! Lets learn to use them. The weapons are listed in
Ephesians 6:10-18.
(Ephesians 6:10-18 NKJV) Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the
power of His might. {11} Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able
to stand against the wiles of the devil. {12} For we do not wrestle against flesh
and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the
darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
{13} Therefore take up the whole armour of God, that you may be able to
withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. {14} Stand therefore,
having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of
righteousness, {15} and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel
of peace; {16} above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to
quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. {17} And take the helmet of
salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; {18} praying
always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end
with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints;
The strongholds of Satan are pulled down by people whose lives show moral integrity and
faith and who know the word of God and can pray in the Spirit at all times. It is a
soldierly combat. For example say Satan has established a stronghold of lustful thoughts
in your mind.
You need to pull down those lustful concepts about the opposite sex through a thorough
study of God's word and knowing what the human body is, and is not, meant for . Then
you need to fill your mind with things that are noble and lovely and true (Phil 4:8))
praying in Jesus name for God to demolish this stronghold in your life.
If the stronghold is in your church - say a spirit of parsimony and greed then you may
need to teach on generosity and giving prayerfully wielding the sword of the Spirit until
the false concepts of stewardship have come tumbling down and the church is renewed in
faith.
If the stronghold is in your nation you may need to debate publicly, use the media and
refute the lies that keep people bound while guarding yourself and your own life from the
counter-attacks that will come. As I said earlier our weapons are "mighty in God" they
are amazing weapons if wielded rightly. Do not be intimidated, the authority of Jesus and
the "big guns" of God's weaponry are on our side.
The following table summarizes the ways Satan attacks and the way we should respond
to these attacks.
I have called it a tactical armory since it tells us which weapon to select for the battle.
You may notice that many of the Scriptures for Satan's tactics also contain the remedy
for it close by or in the same verse! God is wise.
Scripture
Reference
Satan's Trick
Our Victory
John 10;10
1 Timothy 3:6,7
Rev 12:10,11
Accusation
Luke 4:1-13
Knowing the Scriptures so well that you can spot the lie
and counter it with a more appropriate Scripture.
1 Timothy 4:1-7
1 Corinthians 10:14-22
Demon-possession
Conclusion
I hope you are feeling a bit more confident in spiritual warfare by now. Please answer the
following revision questions. They will help you learn the material.
What was one of the purposes in Christ's coming as a human being? (1 John 3:8 ,
Hebrews 2:14)
What victories did He win? (Eph 4:8 , Colossians 2:13-15, John 16:33, 1 John 5:4)
What change took place in the heavenly status of believers between the time of
John the Baptist and the day of Pentecost? (Mt 11:11-13)
Are Christians greater or lesser than angels in authority? (1 Cor 6:3, Heb 2:14,
Eph 2;6,7))
What is the importance of authority in spiritual warfare? (See section on the power
and authority of the Christian)
What are strongholds made of? How do we combat them? (2 Cor 10:3-5)
What are the two ways of using the name of Jesus? (Acts 3:6, 16:18 John
14;13,14, 15:16)
What is meant by binding and loosing? (Matt 12:27-29, 16:19, 18:18-20)
Why can the demonic realm "not touch us"? (1 John 4:4, 5:18)
What is the right tactic for combating involvement in the occult? (See diagram
above)
This connects with the other great purpose expressed in this passage. That believers may
come to a unity of faith and become"a perfect man"in the stature and fullness of
Christ. That is the objective we see most clearly now. To build up Christians God
sovereignly gives the ability to edify His body to certain people as a gift.
On the way to do this Jesus takes"captivity captive"spoiling the demonic world of its
spiritual powers. Like the conqueror He is He then distributes spiritual gifts to men. They
include the five-fold ministries and the gift of tongues on the day of Pentecost and the
various spiritual manifestations necessary for the building up of the body of Christ. So we
see that the purposes behind the ascension-Pentecost are - that Christ might fill all
things, that captivity would be captured, that spiritual gifts might be given to the church
which would then become like Christ. The purpose of Pentecost is Spirit-filled and
empowered images of Jesus Christ.
Let's look at what it is trying to tell us. There are four levels - God, the angelic realm
(inhabited by both good and evil angels), mankind and creation in general. Mankind rules
creation, the angelic realm is more powerful than mankind and God rules over all. It is
the middle portion of the diagram that is the most interesting. We can see from Acts
7:53 and Galatians 3:19 that the Law was given through angels. 1 Corinthians 10:20 also
tells us that the Gentile religions were the work of demons and that the worshippers
worshipped demons and not God.
So we see that before Christ both Jewish and Gentile religion was under the
direct control of the angelic realm. The good angels mediated the Jewish religion and
the demons mediated the innumerable Gentile religions. Both systems were somewhat
similar (though the Law was vastly superior) and listed in the middle of the diagram are
some of the similarities.
Both Jewish and Gentile religions had temples and priests and sacrifices and tithes and
offerings and dietary restrictions and special days and festivals and various taboos and
categories of clean and unclean things. Though the Jewish religion was much holier and
more moral it operated with much the same basic external structure as the Gentile
religions. They had the same externals - though the internals were very different.
Judaism however did not resort to witchcraft, divination, sorcery or magic which are
exclusively in the domain of Satan. In both Colossians and Galatians Paul calls these
external things - the taboos, festivals etc the "elementary principles of this world" or the
"stoichea" (the Greek word for elemental things)
Thus mankind in the Old Testament was ruled by religions based on the exact
performance of rituals and the keeping of numerous laws and taboos. Relationship to God
was through a priestly caste and involved sacrifices. Except for a very few individuals
there was no ongoing relationship with God. Sin led to death which, at that stage, was
under the power of the Devil (Hebrews 2;14,15). The general experience of both Jewish
and Gentile believers was one of fear and bondage (Hebrews 2:14,15). All this was to
change with the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ.
Let's look at some of the changes and seek to explain them. Death moves out of Satan's
control (Hebrews 2:14,15) into that of Jesus Christ who now has the keys of Death and
Hades (Revelation 1:18).
The accusing power of the law over us is broken (Colossians 2:13-15) because it is nailed
to the cross. Jesus has been raised up above every power and principality in the heavenly
realms and we - who are "in Him" - are of course seated where He is.
(Eph 1:20-23 NKJV) which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and
seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, {21} far above all principality and
power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but
also in that which is to come. {22} And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to
be head over all things to the church, {23} which is His body, the fullness of Him who
fills all in all.
The Church contains you and I so the exaltation of the Church is the exaltation of the
believer. Thus the fact that the Church has been made to be the "fullness of Him who fills
all in all" has amazing consequences for the believer. Paul continues to show how we
have been raised "from the guttermost to the uttermost"
(Eph 2:6-7 NIV) {6} And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the
heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, {7} in order that in the coming ages he might show the
incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
Thus we see that we have (past tense) been raised up with Christ and seated with Him
in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus (verse 6 above). This was done not because we
were good but because of God's great grace which Paul calls"the incomparable riches
of His grace..". Thus we have been taken from being sinners (Romans 3:23, Ephesians
2:1-4) and made into people who are"seated in the heavenly realms". We are now
given a status and authority far beyond anything we deserve so that God may show just
how gracious He can be.
This new spiritual status of the believer, this citizenship of heaven, is absolutely central to
Paul's teaching. So much so that Paul is quite astonished when Christians do not grasp
that we are to rule the world and judge the angelic realm.
(1 Cor 6:2-3 NKJV) Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the
world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? {3} Do
you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this
life?
To Paul it is just a gospel basic that Christ has triumphed and that we share His triumph
and rulership as inheritors of the Kingdom. Christ has ascended above the angelic realm
and we have also done this "in Him" therefore we have been invested with an authority
greater than that of the angels and will one day judge them. (Note: Authority is different
from strength, Napoleon was probably not the physically strongest member of his army
but he had authority. So Christians do not have the power of angels yet but we do have
position and authority and the right to be in command.) Thus Christians can exorcise
demons because we are now at a higher level of authority than that of the fallen angels.
Since we are above the angels we are above their systems or the "stoichea". Thus
Christians are not to observe taboos, festivals, days, months, years, sabbaths, make
sacrifices, or worry about tithes, offerings or priests. Lets look at this because it has been
a stumbling block to so many believers.
(Gal 4:1-10 NKJV) ...{3} Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under
the elements of the world ("stoichea"). {4} But when the fullness of the time had come,
God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, {5} to redeem those who
were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. {6} And because you
are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, "Abba,
Father!" {7} Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of
God through Christ. {8} But then, indeed, when you did not know God, you served those
which by nature are not gods. {9} But now after you have known God, or rather are
known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to
which you desire again to be in bondage? {10} You observe days and months and
seasons and years.Thus the religious observance of "days and months, and seasons and
years" is a sign of being in bondage to the "elements of the world".
These external observances are no longer a part of the Christian faith. You can use a
calendar - but you must not attach any religious significance to the dates on it! Faith not
festivals is what makes us closer to God.
Paul amplifies this at length in Colossians chapter 2 and I will only quote a portion of it
here. Firstly He shows how the cross disarmed the principalities and powers and took
away their legal right to enforce their taboos.
(Col 2:13-23 NKJV) And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of
your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses,
{14} having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was
contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. {15}
Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them,
triumphing over them in it.
Then Paul carefully goes through the consequences of being forgiven and of no longer
being under the power of laws, taboos and ceremonies.{16} So let no one judge you in
food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, {17} which are a
shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. {18} Let no one cheat you of
your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those
things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, {19} and not holding
fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and
ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God.
The radical nature of our freedom from these "basic principles of the world" is described
as a "death". Just how many responsibilities does a dead person have? None! So the
Christian no longer has any obligatory responsibilities to cultural taboos, festivals,
sabbaths or dietary regulations. Paul continues..{20} Therefore, if you died with Christ
from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject
yourselves to regulations; {21} "Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle," {22} which
all concern things which perish with the using; according to the commandments and
doctrines of men? {23} These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in selfimposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the
indulgence of the flesh.
To put it simply all "religiosity" has been put behind us when we enter into the death,
resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Spiritual Freedom
We have freedom, we do not have to live in
fear as if we serve a God who will be angry
over the smallest error. Its a bit like sending
someone to mow the lawn and they come
back nervously asking "Which blade of grass
do I mow first?" and you say "Start
anywhere as long as it gets done".
God has given us tremendous freedom and
we don't have to live in a spirit of slavery
worried about getting everything "just right"
- about which blade of grass to mow first.
Such is the spirit of religious fear. It is akin
to the pagan dread of the spirits - if the
ceremony is not done "just so" then curses
would come forth.
The "spirit of fear" produces people who cringe before God over every tiny detail.
However with the death, resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ that is done
away with. The situation now is one of love and sonship.
(Rom 8:15-17 NKJV) For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but
you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father." {16} The Spirit
Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, {17} and if children,
then heirs; heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we
may also be glorified together.
We are beloved sons of God living in freedom. As sons of God, above the angels, we are
going to inherit a kingdom prepared for us since the foundation of the world. We are
heirs. In that Kingdom we will be seated on thrones with Jesus (Revelation 3:21), we will
rule over the nations (Revelation 2:26,27), we will judge the world and even angels (1
Corinthians 6:2,3), we will become beings with immortal and imperishable bodies (1
Corinthians 15:45-55) and dwell safely in amazing wealth, peace and freedom
(Revelation 21 & 22).
When this occurs what it means to be a "son of God" will be revealed. At the moment it
is, at best, vaguely understood. When this occurs the meaning of our being seated in
heavenly realms with Christ Jesus will become absolutely clear. Christ will take up His
authority over all creation through us and amazing changes will occur. The whole world
will be set free! Paul continues on in Romans 8 to say...
(Rom 8:18-22 NKJV) For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not
worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. {19} For the earnest
expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. {20} For
the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it
in hope; {21} because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of
corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. {22} For we know that the
whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.
Thus the death, resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ was the critical
turning point that has ensured the total freedom of all creation! Creation, now in
bondage, will move into "the glorious liberty of the sons of God". God is in the business
of setting all things free. He desires liberty - not cringing enslavement, for all!
However it is a two-step movement firstly there is freedom from the old religious system,
our coming out from domination by the elementary principles of this world and from sin
and death.
Then step two is not anarchy - but having God's moral code written on our hearts
through the Holy Spirit. (Hebrews 8:10) We are freed to become who we were always
meant to be - righteous, holy, spirit-filled beings of love.(Galatians 5:16-24)
This is the work of the Holy Spirit and why the ascension of Jesus Christ is also strongly
associated with the sending of the Holy Spirit.
In His last conversation with His disciples He termed this empowerment the baptism in
the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4,5) and promised them they would receive it soon and that it
would make them powerful international witnesses to Him (Acts 1:8). On the day of
Pentecost it was poured out in a manner that was both visible and audible (Acts 2:32-33)
and likewise during the Gentile Pentecost at Cornelius' place where it is also referred to
as "the baptism in the Holy Spirit". (Acts 11:15,16)
The heavenly realms are now occupied by Jesus and since we are in Him, we have been
seated with Him in these realms (Eph 2:6). Therefore we can have confident access to
God and unhindered participation in the things of the Spirit with Whom we have been
baptized (1 Cor 12:13).
This does not mean that we all have all gifts or that all will have one particular gift. God
is sovereign in how He distributes the gifts of the Spirit. (1 Cor 12:7-11) Within His
sovereignty there is evidently some room for us to ask for particular manifestations of
the Spirit. (Luke 11:13, 1 Cor 12:31, 14:1)
To sum up.... The purpose of Pentecost is to create Spirit-filled and empowered images of
Jesus Christ. The Pentecost event is known as the baptism in the Holy Spirit which was
received by the Jews (Acts 2:32,33), the Gentiles (Acts 11:15,16) and the Christians at
Ephesus (Acts 19:1-6)and Corinth (1 Cor 12:13). It is for all the Church.
The outcome of the Pentecost event is power for ministry (Acts 1:8) through the Holy
Spirit "coming upon" people (Acts 2:32,33) and sovereignly giving spiritual gifts for the
edification of the body of Christ (1 Cor 12:1-7).
The Holy Spirit is not a mere "experience". He is Christ coming to fill all things.(Eph
4:10,5:18) He wants to fill you with Jesus and transform you into His image.(Eph 4:8-13,
Rom 8:29-31) He also wants to give you power you to be a witness for God. (Acts 1:8)
You may ask for Him and God will gladly give the Holy Spirit to you (Luke 11:13) though
you should ask for "the greater gifts" to be used in love for the edification of the church.
( 1Cor 12:31, 14:1)
Conclusion
The ascension of Jesus Christ to "fill all things" was the end of religion as it is generally
conceived and the beginning of a Spirit-filled and joyous relationship with God. The main
thing that Jesus wants to fill is you! To that end He has sent His Holy Spirit into this world
to dwell in the hearts of believers sanctifying them to be like Him and empowering them
to do good works. He has also created a new thing - the Church, which is distinct from
the world and angels and which will rule over both. He has placed believers in the
heavenly realms with Him and freed them from the innumerable fear-filled obligations of
the old religious systems. He has brought us into sonship and membership of the
household of God. This church is to consist of "images of Jesus Christ" indwelt by His
Spirit and living in direct personal relationship with God.
Therefore there is no longer any need to observe new moons, sabbaths, tithing, religious
festivals, to have a church building, a priest, or to abstain from alcohol, red meat, pork
or certain types of seafood. That is all gone. What has replaced it is a life that flows from
being indwelt by God, a life that is characterized not by solemnity and punctilious
observation of fearful rituals but by freedom and love and joy and peace.
(Gal 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, {23} gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
The good news is that breaking curses can be surprisingly easy for Christians because we
dwell under the protection of the blood of Jesus Christ. Curses have greatest power
where the person who has been cursed has committed some great act of wickedness
such as involvement in the occult.
The reverse is also true, curses have little or no power over a righteous person and
Proverbs says that a curse without cause will not alight on the head of a righteous man.
Curses may come upon you because of your own conduct because of : idolatry,
participation in the occult, prostitution, fornication, sexual immorality, adultery, theft,
injustice, direct defiant disobedience to God in an important area,and involvement in
secret societies with rituals and vows.
Curses may be aimed at you by others because of: hatred, envy, greed, jealousy, the use
of magic, spiritual conflict and the desire for revenge. In some cases parents curse their
children, particularly the first-born son, in order to attain power in a deal with Satan or
his representatives. This is said to occur in Masonic rituals.
There are over 200 verses on curses in Scripture and the above list just touches on some
of the main causes and their remedies. Basically a curse can only alight on an area that
God has already judged as being worthy of a curse - such as incest , idolatry or murder.
Most curses generally last only 3-4 generations though some have lasted since Creation.
Repentance from sin, breaking ties with the occult and taking refuge in Christ who has
become a curse for us are the main strategies we can use to break curses.
Part of this is putting on the whole armor of God, which is designed to protect us from
curses leveled against us in the course of spiritual warfare (Ephesians 6:10-18).
When the curse is lifted then the human spirit that has been affected by the curse and
been bowed down with pain, confusion and futility will be quickly healed. The person will
recover and emotional normality should soon follow.
The following page has a prayer for breaking curses that you can print out and use.
(See next page..)
Further
Reading
For further material on spiritual warfare, prayer and intercession go to our two main
websites:
NewTestamentPrayer.Org
and
GlobalChristians.Org
The author of this ebook is Rev. John Edmiston B.Sc. B.D,
who is an Australian missionary living in Los Angeles
and who works as the CEO of Cybermissions.
Contact email: digitalopportunities@gmail.com